Two armed dacoits were arrested on Monday morning at the crossing of AJC Bose Road and Asutosh Mukherjee Road in the Bhowanipore police station area. A constable nabbed them on a private bus on route 205. A bomb, a loaded revolver and more than Rs 1,200 was recovered from the duo.

Rabiul Hossein, a 50-year-old head constable of Hastings police station, was travelling towards Birla Planetarium on a bus on route 2B at around 6 am. As soon as he got off the bus at the Shakespeare Sarani crossing, a commuter informed him that two miscreants, later identified as Pradeep Vaidya, 35, and Sahadeb Haldar, 32, were robbing passengers at gunpoint on a bus on route 205.

Hossein got back on to the bus from which he had disembarked, asking the driver to give chase to the bus where the robbery was allegedly taking place. Finally, the constable intercepted the bus, which had been speeding down AJC Bose Road, after a brief chase.

“The two dacoits tried to escape by boarding a private bus,” explained the constable. Hossein then hailed a taxi, instructing the driver to follow the bus. He was followed by another constable from the Bhowanipore thana, Timir Das. Together, they stopped the bus and arrested the two miscreants.

Soumen Mitra, deputy commissioner of police, detective department, said Vaidya and Haldar are notorious criminals who have been involved in a number of robberies.

“About a month ago, they had been released from Presidency jail, having served eight-year terms for a robbery in the Park Street police station area. A fellow gang member, Babloo Das, who had also served the jail term with them, was lynched some time ago after being caught with a few accomplices in an attempted robbery case in Agarpara,” Mitra added.

On Monday, the two dacoits were remanded in police custody. The money found on them will be handed back to the victims on the bus. “We are taking statements from the passengers, and have learnt that the robbers boarded the vehicle from Park Street,” said Nandadulal Pal, officer-in-charge, Hastings police station. Hossein has been commended for his efforts by the city police, Pal added.

Suicide: Bhaskar Das, a 34-year-old government employee, committed suicide on Monday by hanging himself in the bathroom of his Church Lane office in the Hare Street police station area. Das, a resident of Cossipore Road, had been suffering from depression, police said.